100 Tough Things Every Man Must Do

The 100 Tough Things Every Man Must Do

Learning to drive stick. Demanding a raise. Getting up and dancing at a wedding instead of sitting at the table alone like a huge loser. No one is going to make you do these things. But you'd better make yourself do them when the opportunity arises — because you'll regret it later if you don't.

Big choices steer the paths of our lives, but it's the little choices that determine if they'll be lives that we can be proud of. We polled AskMen readers, contributors and staff about the tough things that they opted to do, even when it would have been easy to not do them.

If you do these 100 things when confronted with them, you'll be able to walk tall into your old age, your self-respect forever secured. If you shy away from them you will shrink into a teeny, feeble little mouse of a man. The old ladies in the retirement home will pity you and the old men will scoff at you. Consider yourself warned!

1. Tell your buddy his girlfriend is not "The One."

3. Do not go home with the 'other' woman.

4. Make the toast. The table is demanding it; don't just stare at your chicken and wait for them to forget.

5. Shotgun a beer. Enough said. (Seriously. Go get one right now).

6. Learn how to ask for exactly what you want.

Learn how to ask for a haircut — or anything, for that matter. Too many good men get caught up in routines they're afraid to break because they don't know how to ask for what they want.-Rick (AskMen Reader)

7. Go to an event alone and leave your smartphone at home.

Force yourself to talk to new people. Think a little less about showing everyone on Instagram that you're having a good time and actually have a good time.

8. Ask your girlfriend's father permission to marry.

When discussing said venture with friends, consensus towards the act’s necessity was split. “It’s 2012,” a few argued. “It’s an outmoded load of nonsense. I simply informed her old man after I’d done it.” As you often should, I ignored my friends. I like chivalry and tradition. And I’m also faintly petrified of my future father-in-law and have spent the past four years increasingly pining for his approval. So off we went for a quiet pint after work, me full of more inane small talk than usual and him quietly enjoying my sweaty-palmed terror. After a round of football natter, in I went. The response? An inquiry as to the nature of the Three Year Plan I was employing to improve my “situation” and an anecdote about how his best friend had initially rejected his daughter’s boyfriend’s request and forced the errant suitor to retrain as a lawyer in order to gain approval.

Eventually noting my suddenly ashen pallor, he said. “Oh, of course you have my permission. The family seem to like you, after all.” A back-handed compliment, but I took it. -Charlie Parrish (AskMen UK Editor)

9. Participate in a group sport that you suck at.

10. Call a sick friend.

You hear that a friend has a serious illness. The last thing you want to do is call him. That’s understandable: You’re busy and you have problems yourself. You don’t want to expend stress on a painful call. Anyway, what's there to say to him? If he’s terminally ill, how can you cheer him up? Even if he’s got a chance, you might end up blurting out the wrong thing.

But you have to call, or at least email. Even if he doesn’t reply because he can’t face the conversation, it will still cheer him up to know you're there for him. If he does reply, let him talk. Ask him how he’s doing, offer to do something — buy him a drink, walk his dog — but mostly just listen. Perhaps he doesn’t want to talk about his illness. He might have done enough of that already. Maybe he wants to talk about girls or good times you’ve had together. Let him guide you.

If he doesn't want a heavy conversation, then don’t start to emote; let him emote if he wants to but don’t make him deal with your feelings. Your only job is to be his friend.-Simon Kuper (AskMen Contributor)

11. Sing karaoke solo.

Of course you have a sh*t voice — isn't that the point?

12. Start and finish a race that may actually kill you.

We're not talking Hunger Games here... but maybe try a Tough Mudder.

13. Look them in the eye.

Nobody remembers the shoegazer.

14. Buck up and go talk to the girl that everyone's looking at.

15. Just jump already.

A group of your friends are on vacation in Hawaii. After hiking all morning along the coastal cliffs, you come to a breathtaking waterfall. You're all standing at the edge, watching locals jump down to the clear blue swimming hole below. It's paradise. It's also a pretty far drop. Now is the time to tell your responsible internal monologue to keep quiet. Just jump. Don't be the guy standing at the edge, nervously eyeing the drop while your friends tread water and taunt you from below. Be one of the first guys in. You'll experience a split second of fear followed by pure, rare euphoria.-Kathryn Jezer-Morton (AskMen Editor)

16. Stand up for the little guy.

Stand up for something or someone when everyone else in the room is silent.-Ellison Jusino (AskMen Reader)

17. Kick that terrible friend to the curb.

You know the guy we're talking about. He's not doing you any good. Time to say Adios.